CORTIS has reached another major milestone in its rapid rise, becoming the fastest K-pop group to surpass 15 million followers on Instagram.

According to BIGHIT MUSIC on Saturday, August 8 KST, the group's official Instagram account crossed the 15 million mark on August 5, roughly one year after the account was first launched in August 2025.

The achievement highlights the group's growing global fanbase and its ability to build a strong online presence in a relatively short period.

The milestone is particularly notable because CORTIS is currently the only K-pop group that debuted within the past five years to have surpassed 15 million Instagram followers.

CORTIS Dominates Social Media Across Multiple Platforms

The group's momentum is not limited to Instagram. CORTIS has also built a sizable following on other major social media platforms.

As of 10 am KST on August 8, the group had accumulated 15.82 million followers on TikTok and 6.24 million subscribers on YouTube. According to BIGHIT MUSIC, those figures are the highest among K-pop boy groups that debuted within the past five years.

The numbers underline how quickly CORTIS has established itself among younger global audiences, with its content reaching fans across several digital platforms rather than relying solely on traditional music promotions

Lollapalooza Appearance Fuels Another Surge

CORTIS' social media growth received another boost following its appearance at Lollapalooza Chicago on August 1 local time.

The group performed in front of an estimated 50,000 festivalgoers, and videos from the performance quickly circulated across social media. Clips showcasing CORTIS performing live helped introduce the group to a wider international audience and contributed to another noticeable increase in its follower count.

The festival appearance also gave the relatively young group an opportunity to demonstrate its performance skills to an audience beyond the K-pop community.

CORTIS is also maintaining its momentum on streaming platforms.

'REDRED', the title track from the group's second mini album, ranked No. 189 on Spotify's latest Weekly Top Songs Global chart for the tracking period from July 31 through August 6. The song has now remained on the chart for 15 consecutive weeks.

With its social media numbers continuing to climb alongside its streaming performance, the group is increasingly making an impact beyond its home market.

CORTIS Continues to Expand its Global Tour Schedule

CORTIS is currently in the middle of its 2026 CORTIS TOUR 'PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN' in North America. The tour includes six cities, including Atlanta and Los Angeles, and is scheduled to continue through August 16.

After completing its North American dates, the group will return to Korea for concerts at Korea University's Hwajeong Gymnasium on August 22 and 23.

CORTIS will then head to Japan for three performances at Pia Arena MM in Kanagawa from September 4 to 6. Its growing international schedule will also include appearances at ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2026 on September 20 and the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix on October 9.

With major festival appearances, an expanding tour schedule and record-breaking social media growth happening at the same time, CORTIS' rapid rise shows little sign of slowing down.

I. Deal Overview

The live-action Voltron project was officially announced in March 2022, with Rawson Marshall Thurber directing and Henry Cavill, Sterling K. Brown, and Rita Ora leading the cast. Filming wrapped around May 2025, on a budget exceeding $150 million — making it one of the most expensive streaming-exclusive projects Amazon has ever financed.On May 12, 2026, Amazon MGM confirmed at its Upfront presentation that the film would skip theaters entirely and premiere exclusively on Prime Video/MGM+. That decision settles the distribution question, but leaves the actual streaming premiere date still unresolved.

II. The Investment Logic: Why Skip Theaters

The commercial logic here differs fundamentally from theatrical releases, where success is measured film-by-film against box office returns. For a streaming original, the goal is subscriber acquisition and retention: the film isn't expected to "pay for itself" directly — its value lies in prompting new Prime sign-ups and renewals, which in turn feed higher-margin businesses like e-commerce and advertising.

The data helps explain why this approach makes sense for Amazon specifically. Roughly 85% of Netflix's revenue comes directly from subscription fees, whereas Amazon's streaming business represents only a small slice of its overall operations — giving Amazon far more room to treat content as a acquisition tool rather than a standalone profit center. According to industry data from market.us, 45% of Prime Video subscribers in 2024 cited exclusive big-budget originals like The Boys and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as a significant factor in their decision to subscribe.

Road House offers a useful precedent. The 2024 reboot drew more than 50 million global views in its first two weeks — Amazon's highest-ever debut for an original film — with cumulative viewership later approaching 80 million, enough to greenlight a sequel. That result demonstrates that a project of comparable budget and star power can genuinely deliver on the viewership goals this strategy depends on. Voltron follows a similar playbook: its budget scale and cast profile sit in the same tier as Road House, giving it a reasonable foundation to replicate that outcome.

III. Current Signals: Signs the Timeline Is Slipping

At Comic-Con in July, Sterling K. Brown revealed that post-production would take a full 48 weeks. Based on that estimate, the film should have been on track for a spring 2026 window — a window that has already passed, suggesting the actual timeline is running behind earlier expectations.

Wikipedia currently lists the release date simply as "2027," making it the first source to explicitly rule out a 2026 release. At the same time, Hasbro secured a toy and merchandising partnership as early as February, indicating that commercial preparations are proceeding even as the release date remains unsettled.

IV. Caveats

The starting point for that "48 weeks of post-production" estimate is itself unclear, since reports conflict on whether filming wrapped in May 2024 or May 2025 — making it difficult to precisely work backward to a specific window. Wikipedia's "2027" listing also carries limited authority on its own; a firmer confirmation from Amazon directly, or from Deadline- or Variety-level reporting, would be needed to treat that year as settled.

I. Deal Overview

The reboot is written and directed by Zach Cregger, who made 2025's well-received horror hit Weapons, and will be released in North America on September 18 by Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures, on a budget of $80 million. Across its seven prior films, the franchise has grossed roughly $1.2 billion worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing video game adaptation franchises in film history.Cregger's track record offers useful context. His 2022 debut, Barbarian, turned a $4.5 million budget into $45 million at the box office. Weapons (2025) then grew that further, earning $270 million worldwide on a $38 million budget. This new film marks his first time working with a nine-figure budget and his first time stepping into an established franchise, having written original scripts for both prior features.

II. Current Signals: Optimistic Tracking, but Franchise Risk Remains

Boxoffice Pro's Long Range Forecast places the film's opening weekend in a range of $30 million to $40 million. Separately, an eight-week tracking survey from The Quorum found that, as of August, the film held 51% awareness and 52% interest among audiences — both the highest figures among the 16 films it was tracking for the same release window. That 52% interest score even exceeded where The Odyssey stood 11 days before its own release; The Odyssey went on to open to $120.5 million.

But the franchise's history carries a structural caveat. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016) drew 91% of its box office from outside North America, with China alone contributing $138 million, while the franchise's best-ever North American opening remains just $26.7 million, set by Resident Evil: Afterlife in 2010. Even with favorable tracking numbers, a domestic opening is still up against a franchise pattern of tepid North American reception paired with heavy reliance on international markets.

One additional data point: according to Sony Pictures Entertainment's official YouTube channel, the film's official trailer had drawn 10.65 million views one month after release, while the teaser trailer had reached 5.35 million views after three months — respectable numbers on their own. However, no outlet appears to have published comparable trailer view counts for other films releasing in the same window, so this figure can't yet be placed in meaningful context against competitors.

III. Caveats

The Quorum's data measures intent-based metrics — awareness and interest — which don't translate one-to-one into ticket sales. While current tracking data points to a $30–40 million range that would exceed the franchise's $26.7 million historical opening record, actually achieving that would mean breaking a pattern the series has never broken before, and that's the real suspense worth watching.

I. Deal Overview

The Television Academy's board of governors has voted to move five award categories out of the September 14 NBC primetime telecast, shifting them instead to the earlier Creative Arts ceremonies on September 5 and 6. The affected categories are: Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, and Writing for a Variety Series.

As a result, the number of awards presented during the main telecast has dropped from 26 last year to 19 this year. The Academy has also retired the "Creative Arts Emmys" branding altogether — all three ceremonies will now simply be referred to as "the Emmys." Academy chairman and CEO Cris Abrego told Variety that the five categories were deliberately spread across three different crafts — acting, writing, and directing — rather than concentrated in one, in an effort to "keep things as balanced and fair as possible."

II. Historical Precedent

Two precedents stand out. The most directly relevant dates to the 75th Emmy Awards in 2023, when the Academy attempted to cut this same category — Writing for a Variety Series — from the telecast. The Writers Guild of America organized a petition, drawing signatures from prominent industry figures, and the Academy ultimately reversed course, restoring the category. Because it involves the identical category and the same guild, this is the closest available comparison for the current dispute.

A second, less directly analogous precedent came in 2025, when the Academy quietly added Outstanding Variety Special (Live) back to the main telecast roughly two weeks after the category list was first announced — notably, without any significant public protest driving the reversal. This suggests the Academy has a pattern of making late adjustments even absent external pressure.

Outside the Emmys, the Oscars offer a cautionary tale: in 2022, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences pre-recorded and edited eight categories into the broadcast, prompting sustained backlash from the industry and fans. It has since fully reversed that decision, returning to live presentation of every category.

III. Current Signals: Opposition Has Grown to Four Fronts

July 17: The Television Academy formally announced the decision to move the five categories, immediately drawing industry criticism.

Around July 18: The DGA, SAG-AFTRA, and WGA issued a rare joint statement of protest, arguing the move "diminishes the contributions" of the artists being honored.

July 24: UTA issued its own separate statement urging the Academy to reverse course, saying such changes "should have been communicated before nominations were announced" and that the agency "strongly recommends the Academy reverse this decision and find another solution" — making it the fourth industry voice to publicly object, after the three guilds.

Around July 20: According to Variety, Netflix's Bela Bajaria and HBO's Casey Bloys were reported to have personally raised objections with the Academy — notably, their networks account for a disproportionate share of nominations in the five affected categories.

Context: This dispute is unfolding as the Academy negotiates its next broadcast rights deal, giving all sides an incentive to avoid an escalating public fight.As of the most recent reporting, the Academy's public position remains unchanged: proceeding as planned, with no signal of reconsideration.

IV. Limitations

There is currently no detailed public response from the Television Academy addressing the guilds' or UTA's statements specifically — only a general posture of holding firm. Additionally, reporting on the 2023 reversal does not fully detail what specifically triggered the Academy's change of heart, so it would be an overstatement to treat "more pressure" as a guaranteed predictor of "more likely reversal." It remains only a plausible reference point, not a confirmed causal pattern.

Ninety-nine percent. Seven percent. Those are the two Rotten Tomatoes scores sitting side by side for "Melania," the 2026 Amazon MGM documentary about the first lady — and the 92-point gap between them is the widest the review-aggregation site has ever recorded.

It's an extreme case, but the pattern behind it shows up constantly, on movies nobody would call politically charged. A comedy pulls 30% from critics and 85% from ticket-buyers. A prestige drama does the reverse. Rotten Tomatoes displays both numbers on every title, side by side, and leaves audiences to sort out what the gap means. Understanding what the two scores actually measure explains why they so often disagree — and why neither one is simply "right."

What the Tomatometer actually counts

The critics' score, officially the Tomatometer, isn't an average of anything. A small team of human curators at Rotten Tomatoes tracks down reviews from a large pool of pre-approved critics for each release, then makes a subjective call on each one: positive, or "Fresh," versus negative, or "Rotten." The Hustle reported, citing Wired's reporting on the process, that the Tomatometer is simply the share of reviews sorted into the Fresh pile — a film needs 60% or more Fresh reviews to be certified "Fresh" itself; anything under that line is "Rotten."

That binary sorting is the whole trick, and the whole limitation. A critic who calls a movie "a flawed but worthwhile two and a half stars" and a critic who calls it "a total triumph" both register as one identical "Fresh" vote. The Tomatometer records whether critics liked a film, not how much they liked it — which means a movie greeted with mild enthusiasm by 90% of reviewers can outscore a movie adored intensely by 65% of them.

What the audience score measures instead

The audience number works on a different axis entirely. Rather than a binary count, it's a straight average of star ratings — half-star increments from 0.5 to 5 — submitted by anyone who marks themselves as having seen the film. No credentials, no editorial filter, no curator deciding what counts.

That structural difference does most of the work explaining why the two scores split. Critics are a small, credentialed, relatively homogenous group reviewing through a professional lens — craft, direction, originality measured against genre history. Audiences are self-selected in a different way entirely: the people who bother to rate a movie tend to already be the ones who wanted to see it, which can push scores toward enthusiasm the general public wouldn't share, or, in the other direction, toward review-bombing from people who never intended to watch it at all.

How "Melania" broke the record

The documentary's gap is the sharpest illustration of both dynamics working against each other at once. Reporting from World of Reel noted that Amazon MGM declined to hold advance screenings for critics, meaning reviewers had to buy a same-day ticket to see the film at all — a distribution choice that sharply limited how many critics reviewed it in the first place. With only a handful of reviews counted toward the Tomatometer, the score was unusually easy to move in one direction.

The audience side saw the opposite dynamic: a built-in, motivated fanbase showing up specifically to rate a film it already knew it would support. The combination produced the 99-7 split. It isn't unprecedented in shape, only in degree — the 2024 documentary "Reagan," starring Dennis Quaid, drew an 18% critics score against a 98% audience score, a similarly lopsided gap that went largely unremarked at the time simply because it wasn't a record.

What a wide score gap is actually telling you

None of this makes either score meaningless. It makes them measurements of two different things wearing the same tomato-shaped icon. A high Tomatometer paired with a low audience score often flags a movie critics respected on craft grounds that general audiences found cold, slow, or simply not to their taste. The reverse pattern — low critics, high audience — often flags a crowd-pleaser critics judged by a stricter bar than casual viewers apply. It's the same underlying gap that shows up in why so few movie remakes beat the original: professional and popular judgment simply don't move in lockstep, and there's no reason they should.

Rotten Tomatoes became powerful enough for any of this to matter almost by accident. The site started in 1998, built by graduate students who wanted a way to rank Jackie Chan movies, and passed through the video site Flixster, then Warner Bros., and finally Comcast NBCUniversal's Fandango before its scores started appearing automatically on Google search results, Apple's storefronts, and DirecTV listings. A survey cited in that reporting found roughly a third of Americans check Rotten Tomatoes scores before deciding what to watch, and that nearly two-thirds of those people have skipped a title entirely because of what they saw there — a lot of weight resting on a percentage that, on the critics' side, is really just a headcount of who leaned positive.

That's the real story behind the tomato icon: not a verdict on quality, but two separate polls of two separate populations, measured two separate ways, printed on the same page. The next time the numbers don't match on a movie worth the price of a ticket, the disagreement is doing exactly what it's built to do — showing that critics and crowds don't always want the same thing from a film, and never really have.

Signal Background

Tate McRae's last album, "So Close to What," was released in February 2025, supporting the ongoing "Miss Possessive Tour." In recent weeks, her team has begun rolling out visual material that departs noticeably from that album's aesthetic.

Timeline

Around July 28, McRae posted a set of minimalist styled photos on Instagram, with photography and typography distinct from the "So Close to What" era, captioned only "Montreal, Chicago. See u soon" — hinting at two upcoming shows. Around the same time, hand-drawn posters appeared on the streets of Chicago, featuring four different looks tied to specific dates for her Osheaga and Lollapalooza performances, alongside an unexplained number sequence: "10 1."On August 1, she closed out Osheaga in Montreal. On August 2, she took the Lollapalooza stage in Chicago — performing no new songs, but with stage visuals clearly departing from the "Miss Possessive" era, fueling further speculation about a stylistic reset. Around August 3, she posted a lighthearted TikTok continuing the same minimalist visual thread, prompting fan speculation in the comments. Multiple outlets have since covered these developments, though their reporting overlaps heavily and does not yet amount to independent corroboration.

Deal Overview

On June 21, 2026, Moschino named Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo as co-creative directors — just two days after their predecessor's exit, making it one of fashion's fastest transitions in recent memory. The duo, former co-founders of Milan label Sunnei, will present their debut collection during Milan Fashion Week on September 25.

Historical Reference: A Track Record of Unconventional Presentations

At Sunnei, Messina and Rizzo repeatedly broke from traditional runway formats. Their spring 2023 show featured twin models performing "quick changes"; fall 2023 saw models crowd-surfing through the audience; spring 2024 handed guests scorecards to rate each look, turning criticism itself into performance. Their September 2025 farewell show pushed this further: rather than presenting clothes, the pair staged a mock auction with Christie's, selling off two crates — one containing the Sunnei brand (final bid: 112 million "fashion dollars"), the other revealing the designers themselves (95 million). Hours later, their departure was announced. This pattern of using unconventional formats to narrate brand and personal identity is a consistent thread across multiple seasons, making it a key reference point for their Moschino debut. Notably, Moschino was founded by Franco Moschino on a foundation of satire and irreverence — outlets including DSCENE and Runway Live have noted this aligns closely with the pair's sensibility.

Limitations

No official details or industry leaks about the debut's format currently exist. Moschino is also a 41-year-old commercial house, unlike the independent Sunnei — whether the same experimental latitude will apply under new ownership remains uncertain.

Michael J. Fox has been tapped to receive one of the Television Academy‘s biggest honors, the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, at this year’s Emmy Awards. The org announced the news Wednesday, noting that the kudo was“in recognition of his transformative contributions to Parkinson’s disease research and advocacy.”

 Fox is already an Emmy nominee this year; he’s among the performers competing in the outstanding guest actor in a comedy series category via his role on Apple TV’s“Shrinking.”That award will be given out during the nontelevised Sept. 6 Emmys; his Bob Hope Humanitarian Award will be telecast on NBC (his one-time“Family Ties”home) as part of the 78th Emmy Awards on Sept. 14.

The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award was created in 2002, with Oprah Winfrey as its first recipient. The idea was “to honor a member of the telecommunications industry whose philanthropic efforts exemplify Bob Hope’s own decades-long altruism and positive impact on society.”

The Television Academy and the Bob & Dolores Hope Foundation jointly find an honoree “whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry and whose deeds and actions have had a lasting impact on society.”

Last year, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen received the honor. Although it has been around for 24 years, this will only be the sixth time it has been given: Besides Winfrey, Danson and Steenburgen, past honorees are Danny Thomas (given posthumously in 2004), George Clooney (2010) and Sean Penn (2022).

Fox has been nominated for 19 Emmys and has won five, including three consecutive lead comedy actor wins in 1986, 1987 and 1988 for “Family Ties” as Alex P. Keaton. Later, he won another lead comedy actor Emmy for “Spin City” in 2000, and he won an Emmy for his guest appearance on the drama “Rescue Me” in 2009. His other Emmy noms over the years include guest spots on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Boston Legal” and “The Good Wife.”

Fox has also received four Golden Globes, a Grammy Award and two SAG-AFTRA Actor Awards. He has also been given an honorary Academy Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2010, and promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in June.

In film, Fox is known for the “Back to the Future” trilogy, as well as “Teen Wolf,” “The Secret of My Success,” “Casualties of War,” “The American President,” “Doc Hollywood” and more.

Apple TV’s doc about the star, “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” won four Emmys. Last year, he released his fifth New York Times bestselling book, “Future Boy.”

Fox first disclosed his diagnosis with young-onset Parkinson’s disease publicly in 1998, and founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in 2000. It’s now the world’s largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson’s research, supporting more than $3 billion in research programs.

“Michael J. Fox is one of television’s most beloved and enduring performers whose work has left an indelible mark on generations of audiences,” said TV Academy chair Cris Abrego. “The Television Academy is proud to honor him for his extraordinary leadership in advancing Parkinson’s research, transforming public awareness and inspiring global support through The Michael J. Fox Foundation, whose investments have accelerated scientific breakthroughs and the search for a cure. He continues to exemplify compassion, courage and service, reflecting the power of one individual to drive meaningful change.”

Added TV Academy special awards selection committee co-chair Hillary Bibicoff: “Fox’s advocacy has made a lasting impact around the world, and he has consistently leveraged his platform to inspire meaningful change in the fight against Parkinson’s.” Said co-chair Joseph Litzinger: “His dedication to helping others navigate the challenges of this disease serves as an inspiration to us all.”

The 78th Emmy Awards, hosted by Mariska Hargitay, broadcasts live from the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live on Monday, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC and streaming on Peacock.

I. Deal Overview

The soundtrack for The Odyssey, composed by Ludwig Göransson, was released alongside the film on July 17. For the chart week of August 7-13, it returned to No. 1 on the UK's Official Soundtrack Albums Chart — a comeback after slipping to No. 4 the previous week. The album has now spent three weeks on the chart, with a career-best peak of No. 1.The film itself continues to perform strongly. Roughly six weeks into its theatrical run, global box office has surpassed $1.4 billion. Weekly grosses have been declining, as is typical, but the film remains in wide release, with IMAX screenings already booked through September. That gives the soundtrack a measure of external support heading into the fall.

II. Historical Baseline

The collaboration

Göransson's partnership with Christopher Nolan began with Tenet in 2020. Their second project, Oppenheimer (2023), earned Göransson both a Grammy and an Oscar for Best Original Score. The Odyssey is their third collaboration.

Track record on this chart

Against that backdrop, The Odyssey's No. 1 debut breaks a pattern that had held for years: Tenet peaked at No. 4 on the UK Soundtrack Albums Chart, and Oppenheimer peaked at No. 5 — neither reached the top spot. Even The Mandalorian and Grogu, an unrelated Göransson project released earlier this year, only managed a peak of No. 2, itself a personal best at the time, before being overtaken by The Odyssey within a few weeks. This makes The Odyssey Göransson's first-ever No. 1 on this specific chart.

First-week consumption pattern

The soundtrack debuted at No. 6 on the UK Official Album Downloads chart — again, a career high for Göransson. By contrast, it ranked far lower on formats tied to physical collecting: No. 27 on the Vinyl Albums chart, No. 38 on the Album Sales chart, and No. 48 on the Physical Albums chart. This data indicates that the first week's momentum was driven mainly by digital and streaming consumption, while traditional physical-collecting demand failed to keep pace — leaving some uncertainty about how sustainable the No. 1 position will be.

III. Current Signals

The chart's back-and-forth this month — a drop to No. 4 followed by a return to No. 1 — suggests the ranking hasn't settled into a clear trend yet. It isn't a steady decline, but it isn't a confirmed hold either.

Comparing lifecycles of other titles on the same chart shows how differently soundtracks can play out. KPop Demon Hunters has logged 54 consecutive weeks on the chart, a long-tail performer backed by officially disclosed streaming numbers. Michael has held on for 15 weeks. The Devil Wears Prada 2 re-entered the chart just 3 weeks ago. At this point, it isn't clear which of these trajectories The Odyssey is more likely to follow.

IV. Tiered Forecast

Putting these threads together points to four plausible outcomes. A continued No. 1 would reflect the current position holding, aided by the film's ongoing run and its IMAX bookings through September. A finish in the No. 2-3 range would echo the historical peaks set by Tenet and Oppenheimer. A slide to No. 4-10 would match a common pattern for theatrical soundtracks — an early spike followed by a settling-in around the middle of the pack roughly a month after release. Falling out of the Top 10 altogether would suggest a faster fade, closer to the less durable titles on this same chart.

I. Deal Overview

At D23 on August 14, Marvel unveiled seven confirmed cast members for its X-Men reboot: Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor X, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Maya Boyd as Storm, and Adam Driver as the villain Mister Sinister. The film's release date has been set for May 5, 2028, with Jake Schreier — director of Thunderbolts* — attached to helm the project.Four core roles remain unconfirmed: Magneto, Beast, Mystique, and a successor to Wolverine.

II. Historical Baseline: Marvel's Announcement Pattern and the Production Timeline

How the reveal was structured

Marvel's decision to unveil seven cast members at once at D23 suggests a preference this time around for a "full-roster" style rollout, rather than the piecemeal leaks that have characterized past casting cycles. That pattern offers a useful reference point for whether the remaining roles might also be announced together, in a second batch, rather than trickling out individually.

Production timeline

According to Filmbase, an industry trade outlet, filming is expected to begin toward the end of this summer, likely in Ireland or at Pinewood Studios. Some indirect support for the Pinewood location came from Adam Driver's D23 video appearance, which appeared to show him on-site at the studio. That said, the timeline isn't settled: earlier reports had suggested production wouldn't begin until 2027, meaning there's still genuine disagreement about when filming actually starts.

III. Current Signals: Casting Rumors of Uneven ReliabilityBeast — conflicting reports call for caution

Charles Melton has been the name most associated with the role of Beast, but the rumor has gone through two reversals. It was first reported — via a single leak account, MyTimeToShineHello — that Melton had signed on. That was followed by a separate claim, from leaker Daniel Richtman as relayed by Cosmic Marvel, that Melton had instead turned the role down. Both claims originate from individual leak accounts, and neither has been corroborated by an official source or by outlets like Deadline or The Hollywood Reporter.

Magneto, Mystique, and the Wolverine successor — little confirmed information

Magneto has the messiest rumor field of the three, with Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington, Bill Skarsgård, and Henry Cavill all named at various points. The primary source behind these reports is a single leaker with what has been described as an inconsistent track record. A Hollywood Reporter fan poll showing roughly 30% support for Washington reflects fan interest rather than any insider signal.

Mystique has seen the least movement of the four: after an earlier rumor linking Hunter Schafer to the role, there's been no further reporting.

For Wolverine, there's disagreement over whether Marvel will recast the role at all in the near term. Hugh Jackman has publicly said he's stepping away from the character, yet still polled at 43% support among fans for a potential return. Names like Daniel Radcliffe and Taron Egerton have circulated as possible successors, but none of these reports have been confirmed by high-credibility sources.

Deal Overview

Klara and the Sun, Taika Waititi's adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel starring Jenna Ortega, has landed an official berth in TIFF's 2026 lineup , on September 10–20, ahead of its October 23 theatrical release. Whether Ortega herself can attend remains genuinely uncertain, and neither Sony/TriStar, Waititi, nor Ortega has publicly confirmed her plans.

Scheduling Data

Wednesday Season 3 began filming in Dublin on February 16, 2026. One early production listing suggested a wrap around May 22, but co-star Hunter Doohan said the season would run "seven, eight months" like the prior ones — pointing to a wrap closer to September or October, overlapping directly with TIFF's window.

Risk Factors — Signals From Multiple Sides

Other signals lean cautious: Sony gave CinemaCon stage time to The Social Reckoning rather than Klara and the Sun. The film spent over 16 months in post-production and missed its originally planned festival windows twice; outlets like World of Reel have voiced skepticism about its box-office and critical prospects, while Empire has been more favorably disposed toward Waititi's tonal shift. Given the overlap and lack of confirmation, Ortega's attendance remains unclear.

It has been a wild year for horror, thanks in large part to two films by YouTubers, Obsession and Backrooms, which made hundreds of millions on tiny budgets. But we’ve also gotten entries from established franchises, and there’s a new one with Insidious: Out of the Further, which now has a Rotten Tomatoes critic score.

Insidious: Out of the Further is out this weekend, and now critics have made their opinions known through reviews. They have coalesced into a Rotten Tomatoes review score, which was previously rotten, but has since surged a bit into fresh territory as more reviews have come in. As it stands, Insidious: Out of the Further has a 67% critic review score. Not amazing for the long list of great horror films this year, but fantastic for the franchise itself. A record, in fact. Here’s how it compares to others in the series:

Insidious: Out of the Further (2026) – 67% critic score
Insidious (2010) – 66% critic score
Insidious Chapter 3 (2015) – 56% critic score
Insidious: The Red Door (2023) – 39% critic score
Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) – 38% critic score
Insidious: The Last Key (2018) – 35% critic score

So yes, it’s the top-scored Insidious film at the moment, just a touch above the original. I’m not even sure most people know there are six Insidious movies at this point, but they just keep making them. Audience scores here have never been amazing. Those range from 49% to 69%. The box office returns, however? All five released films have made over $100 million globally on small budgets, with 2023’s The Red Door earning $189 million compared to the lowest earner, the original Insidious at $100.1 million.

Compared to the other horror entries of 2026, however, Insidious: Out of the Further, even with a fresh score, would be somewhere around 15th place for higher-profile releases, so there are plenty of other options if you’d prefer something a bit better. What’s this one about? Here’s the synopsis:

“In Insidious: Out of the Further, Amelia Eve stars as Gemma, a young mother raising her daughter in the house she grew up in who discovers she can travel into The Further, the purgatorial realm of lost souls at the heart of the Insidious universe. When something evil comes after her, Gemma discovers an ability that changes everything: she doesn't just enter The Further, she can bring what lives there back to the real world. Once the demons realize her power, our world becomes their playground.”

Insidious: Out of the Further has a relatively unknown cast. Its lead, Amelia Eve, does have a horror pedigree as a star of Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix. You may also recognize Sam Spruell, who played Prince Maekar Targaryen in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms recently. He was also a great villain in the Fargo TV series on FX.

So, if you’re an Insidious fan, this may be the best of the bunch. If not, there are probably a dozen other 2026 horror movies to watch.